Does WashU reject/waitlist overqualified applicants?

<p>I've heard from more than one source about the "WashU Syndrome", where WashU will reject or waitlist applicants who don't seem as if they'll go to WashU if accepted, basically applicants who are overqualified. supposedly WashU wants to play around with their admission stats. I know that certain other schools, such as Tufts, are known to do this because they don't want to be seen as the "Ivy Reject" school. Is this just a myth or is there actual truth behind this?</p>

<p>I somehow doubt that WashU would advertise and hunt so hard for applicants only to reject the brightest ones. But whatever. More space for mid-achievers like me!</p>

<p>WashU is infamous for this practice. "Yield Management" only hurts the school in the long run.</p>

<p>WUSTL attrack the most qualified student by giving them great merit scholarships, they know what them want and they know when a kid will fit in the school and when he don't.</p>

<p>I dunno, my school had 6 kids get in, and the one of the kids that was waitlisted was our schools most brilliant student. All A's, Very High test scores 35 on ACT-similar SAT, Straight 5's, National Merit, 3 Time Forensic Champion, Current KS debate champion 4-speaker, 2yr Drum Major, meaningful community service using math, and on and on. This also happened to him at Northwestern as well. His essays are amazing, he was a speaker at our graduation. He happens to be Asian so i don't know if that hurt any. He ended up at NYU</p>

<p>Also 5 of the 6 kids recieved substantial scholarships. I know you can't say someone is more or less qualified than someone else but when you go to school with these people you can tell, he was a rare mix of intellect and artistic ability (his writing and forensic speeches/debates), sociable, passionate about his interest i.e. band, foresenics, math. He was also president of our honor society. It was really dissappointing for our whole school to found out he had been waitlisted, while other deserving, but less qualified people recieved admissions and scholarships.</p>

<p>the most "overqualified" person i've ever met (he sounds like the person 400metres described, and then some) currently attends wash u, and the second most qualified person i've met was accepted. so no, i don't think that's true.</p>

<p>i may very well be surrounded by extremely stupid people, though.</p>

<p>Our valedictorian from last year with one of the highest GPA's ever at our school got waitlisted at Wash U, because he didnt visit. He's going to Harvard, where he chose over Princeton. You better show interest or they're going to reject you!</p>

<p>someone from cleveland heights got into harvard? amazing.</p>

<p>not from cleveland heights ;) but its not uncommon for a few kids from heights here and there to go to those types of schools.</p>

<p>Yes Wash U is famous for this but Duke started this yield sydrondrum!!</p>

<p>got waitlisted and rejected at WASH U and even my teachers were shocked at..</p>

<p>WASH U just wants to make its school look competitive by lowering its acceptance rate, but it will never have the same reputation as Ivy, JHU, U of C, Northwestern, UMICH and many more</p>

<p>I'm sorry, but has anyone actually talked to a Wash U admissions officer and asked them if they do this? I mean, yes, some people who appear to be qualified are waitlisted and rejected, but we're looking at this based on a few case studys. Is there any statistics to actually prove this? Until I hear an arguement more than "I heard that Wash U does this" or "the most over qualified student got waitlisted from my school," I don't think one can possibly argue that there is a "syndrome."</p>

<p>It makes no sense for people to claim that their strategy is to waitlist applicants who are "overqualified" just because they want to play numbers games, then they will go and accept these applicants off the waitlist so it won't affect their acceptance rate.</p>

<p>1) How is one overqualified for one of the top ranked and most selective schools in the nation? Just because your gpa and test scores were the cream of the crop @ your little school doesn't mean you are top dog compared to the rest of the world</p>

<p>2) WashU didn't take anyone from their waitlist this year so if they are playing this waitlisting game (putting the candidates they really want on waitlist so they can accept them later) then i guess they are screwed then, eh?</p>

<p>The only thing WashU is guilty of is giving acceptances to people that they think will fit in and have a good chance of enrolling in the school. Yes, sometimes this means visiting and doing an interview, other times its just apparent; however, WashU does prefer to accept students who want to be there. This isn't a crime as I think its only morally sound to offer acceptance to someone who wants to go as opposed to someone who doesn't, thats just a waste of a spot. People might read this and say that this means that they are forced to select underqualified applicants; however, there are so many qualified students to go to Top 20 schools, and a lot of them really wanna go to WashU, and guess what, they get accepted and go.</p>

<p>So just cause you or your friend got waitlisted and you think you're just so much hot stuff that WashU has to single you out and play a waitlisting game with you, perhaps you will get off that high horse when you go to a real institution of postsecondary education and see that everyone is as smart, if not smarter, than you are. Its all a crapshoot. WashU has no time to focus on one applicant enough to devise some grand scheme. If you are a top student, want to go to WashU, and have something to contribute to the school, then you'll get in. End of story!</p>

<p>I agree with Jeffwun on this one. We had at least 15-20 people apply to Wash U. </p>

<p>Now for those of you who don't know my school, we put 100% of our kids at four year colleges, and i'd like to think that our school is pretty smart and qualified. We had 6 kids get into Harvard, 15 kids into NW, 15 into UPenn, 8 into Princeton, 59 kids get into Berkeley, and 8 into Stanford out of a class of around 130 in the Class of '06. </p>

<p>Many of my friends who got into these prestigious universities got waitlisted at Wash U. Why? Because each and every one of them thought of Wash U as a backup. They were willing to go as a last resort. I know of one of my friends who had great stats. All-league volleyball player, head of newspaper and yearbook, 4.4 GPA, 2300 SAT, AP-insane, etc. etc., and she got waitlisted and is now going to UPenn. I was shocked because I always expected her to get in so she would have a backup, but I realized that this happened to many others, all of whom were qualified for Wash U but wanted it as a backup. Now, my other friend had better stats and she was offered merit money to come to Wash U, but I attributed that to her being near the top and a well-rounded applicant/student. </p>

<p>My point is, most of these overqualified applicants saw Wash U as a last resort. I wanted to go there. I applied ED, I visited, and I showed a lot of interest, and I got in. I was in no way in the Top 10% of my class. I showed none of the academic...skills of some of my fellow classmates at Wash U Class of 2010, but I got in because I really wanted to go there. It's no crime to waitlist some qualified applicants. Wash U wants students who are willing to go their school as a first choice. Because it's name is not as widely known, most students have preconceived notions about it (oh it's in Missouri, oh I won't get a job with a degree from there). The overqualified students especially don't want to go there because they want to go to a name school and Wash U gets pushed down the list. Some overqualified students Wash U tries to recruit by offering scholarships like every other college, but they really do want students who have shown a genuine interest in going. </p>

<p>UCLA does the same exact thing. They reject many of the "overqualified" applicants because they'll probably all choose Berkeley over LA. It's not a fair practice, but it happens because no school wants to be seen as a pure backup. If you have students who are willing and want to go, you'll have a happier, more productive, more successful student body. </p>

<p>College admissions don't purely look at stats and recs and essays, they think about each individual student in the context of that one particular class - how they would fit in, etc. </p>

<p>Sure, Wash U isn't as widely known as Northwestern or Duke, but the quality of education is just as excellent as those institutions..</p>

<p>Kungpaoyu:</p>

<p>As a WUSTL med school professor who has served on non-undergrad admissions committees , I'd say you're right on. If you were an undergrad admissions officer, why would you admit so-called "overqualified" applicants who don't want to attend your school? If they did accept your offer they'd probably spend four years whining that they really should be at HYP etc. It takes only a few students like this to poison a college's atmosphere, which would make recruiting the next class of top students that much harder. A second point to consider is whether these "overqualified" applicants are in fact any better (or even as good) as the students the college does choose to admit and enroll. In this regard, I have observed the careers of hundreds of students. I've seen that truly great students come from many, many different types of colleges. Indeed, the correlation between where someone went to college and how successful (at least in science) they ultimately are is weaker than you would expect. Even more striking is that seemingly average undergraduate students can turn out to be superstars once in graduate school and beyond. Indeed, I know many superstar professors who had not-so-stellar undergrad records. They languished as undergrads because undergrad education in the sciences often does little to stimulate or utilize a student's creativity. Success in grad school and beyond, however, is much more creativity-driven, although much hard work is still required. So which undergrad applicant is more qualified? The smart, dilligent student with perfect grades and scores but perhaps only average spark or creativity and only passing interest in your college, or the smart, creative student with a some less-than-perfect marks on their record but who would love to attend your school? You decide! </p>

<p>In any event, hats off to you, Kungpaoyu! Sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight. Enjoy your four years at WUSTL.</p>

<p>Jeffwun "So just cause you or your friend got waitlisted and you think you're just so much hot stuff that WashU has to single you out and play a waitlisting game with you, perhaps you will get off that high horse when you go to a real institution of postsecondary education and see that everyone is as smart, if not smarter, than you are."</p>

<p>Don't accuse me of having some kind of superiority complex when all I said is that they waitlist very qualified kids that show no interest. First of all, I got in, no waitlist involved and I am going there in the fall. Also, our "little school" is one of the elite private institutions in the state. Finally, the 2005 valedictorian isnt my friend, there would be no reason for me to back him up.</p>

<p>^Im sorry if you mistook my post for being directly addressed to you because it wasn't. I wasn't addressing anyone in particular. If you look @ my other posts you'll see that I often use the second person when making posts like this just because it helps to drive my point across more. So, again, im sorry if you think I was talking about you specifically, but I wasn't.</p>

<p>I was waitlisted at Wash U and probably was considered "overqualified" even though Wash U was not my backup. I ranked Wash U as being my 3rd or 4th choice out of a list of about 8 schools. I could not afford to visit the school before I knew I was accepted. I applied to two scholarships they offered, but I guess they thought they were a backup for me. Strangely enough, the two schools that were at the bottom of my list but were more highly ranked than Wash U accepted me. I think the admissions officers really shouldn't judge who gets in based on whether they think they are a backup. Some smart kids do want to go to WUSTL.</p>

<p>music_uoffer
Based on the stats for last year, it seems that quite a few "smart kids" do attend WashU. From everything I have seen the average WashU student matches up well with students at any of the top schools.
WashU
Selectivity 6
SAT 1350-1520
Top 10% HS 93%</p>

<p>I think that it's unfair to say that WASHU rejects overqualified applicants. Most people who get in to WASHU are "overqualified," and the quality and diversity of the student body is stellar. Furthermore, WASHU has a 19% acceptance rate, which is on par with Duke and just 3% behind STANFORD.</p>